How can you ensure your EMM solution is resilient to insider threats?

Insider threats are one of the most challenging and costly risks for any organization, especially when it comes to managing enterprise mobility. Employees, contractors, or partners who have access to sensitive data and devices can cause intentional or accidental damage, theft, or leakage. That's why you need to ensure your enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution is resilient to insider threats and can protect your data, devices, and users from malicious or careless actions. Here are some tips on how to do that.

1 Assess your EMM security posture

Before you can improve your EMM security, you need to know where you stand. You should conduct a thorough assessment of your current EMM policies, procedures, and tools to identify any gaps, weaknesses, or vulnerabilities. You should also review your user roles, permissions, and access levels to ensure they are aligned with the principle of least privilege and the need-to-know basis. Additionally, you should audit your EMM logs and reports to detect any anomalies, incidents, or breaches that may indicate insider threats.

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Basil Philipsz
(edited)
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Persistent human drivers of Ideology, Greed, Revenge motivate Insiders to be complicit in attacks and the ability to easily repudiate access is the main driving catalyst. Deploying MFA is useful but many current MFA methods are vulnerable and so allow the Insider to attribute external agency. If the MFA relies of the mobile itself, then the usual self-provisioning instigation can be abused by an attacker using social engineering to use Help Desk Assistant to enable re-instatement. Using the mobile itself as the authentication means is by definition not "multi-factor" and can be sabotaged by having the mobile rooted before MFA is established. The advice is choose MFA wisely and be extremely wary of any MFA which is self-provisioning.

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2 Implement multi-factor authentication

One of the most effective ways to prevent unauthorized access to your EMM data and devices is to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA requires users to provide more than one piece of evidence to verify their identity, such as a password, a code, a token, or a biometric. MFA can reduce the risk of credential compromise, phishing, or social engineering attacks that may enable insiders to bypass your EMM security. You should also enforce strong password policies and regular password changes for your EMM users.

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Dumitru Hantig

Data Security Analyst at Tempus AI
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MFA goes beyond traditional password protection by requiring an additional form of verification - like a code from a phone or fingerprint scan - to access company data on managed devices. This extra step significantly reduces the risk of an insider with stolen credentials bypassing your main security barrier. MFA adds a crucial stumbling block for malicious actors, forcing them to compromise multiple factors, not just one password, making unauthorized access significantly harder and more time-consuming. By adding this additional hurdle, you significantly increase the chances of detecting and stopping an insider attempting to access sensitive data or misuse their privileges.

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3 Encrypt your EMM data

Another key step to protect your EMM data from insider threats is to encrypt it both at rest and in transit. Encryption ensures that only authorized users with the right keys can access or read your EMM data, while unauthorized users or attackers see only gibberish. You should use industry-standard encryption algorithms and protocols for your EMM data, such as AES-256 or TLS. You should also manage your encryption keys securely and avoid storing them on the same server or device as your EMM data.

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4 Monitor your EMM activity

To detect and respond to insider threats, you need to monitor your EMM activity continuously and proactively. You should use tools and techniques that can collect, analyze, and alert you of any suspicious or abnormal behavior, such as unauthorized access, data transfer, device configuration, or policy violation. You should also integrate your EMM monitoring with your security information and event management (SIEM) system to correlate and contextualize your EMM data with other security data sources and generate actionable insights.

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5 Educate your EMM users

Finally, you need to educate your EMM users about the importance and best practices of EMM security and the risks and consequences of insider threats. You should provide regular training and awareness programs that cover topics such as EMM policies, security hygiene, data protection, incident reporting, and ethical conduct. You should also foster a culture of trust and accountability that encourages your EMM users to comply with your EMM security standards and report any suspicious or malicious activity.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you ensure your EMM solution is resilient to insider threats?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Assess your EMM security posture

2 Implement multi-factor authentication

3 Encrypt your EMM data

4 Monitor your EMM activity

5 Educate your EMM users

6 Here’s what else to consider

Information Security

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How can you ensure your EMM solution is resilient to insider threats?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Assess your EMM security posture

2 Implement multi-factor authentication

3 Encrypt your EMM data

4 Monitor your EMM activity

5 Educate your EMM users

6 Here’s what else to consider

Information Security

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